Dissecting Vanderbilt’s award-winning SPC intruder detection family

Dissecting Vanderbilt’s award-winning SPC intruder detection family

When it comes to intruder detection, staff protection is a critical priority for all businesses. But some sectors need to provide their staff with more protection than others.

For instance, financial institutions like banks, post offices, and credit unions can be under threat from break-ins and robberies. While other areas, such as 24-hour fuel stations or factories, have staff on premises working throughout the night. Therefore, if a theft was to occur during these unorthodox working times, it is vital that the alarm can be raised, and help can be provided immediately.

Traditionally the method for signaling a threat was a member of staff would trigger a silent alarm that would be reported to police, or staff would enter a unique duress code into the system. That said, an often-reported issue with duress codes is that adding a one-to-four-digit number can be challenging to perform when you are under pressure.

Protecting isolated staff

However, Vanderbilt’s SPC intrusion system has several features that help protect staff. The SPC is, of course, an intrusion detection platform that delivers a modern, powerful security system for customer needs. SPC protects businesses, properties, and assets as an intrusion detection system that offers versatile and comprehensive alarm management functionality. Through the use of cloud services, end-user apps, and a dedicated software suite, SPC is at the forefront of modern intrusion detection.

One such feature is the “All okay” function. Simply put, this is a step that staff can perform to signal everything is “okay” when the SPC system is unset. The beautiful thing about this is that SPC allows this “All okay” signal to be almost anything. Additionally, you can add multiple elements that will trigger the signal.

The SPC system can be configured to have this functionality for specific areas, and the time and action can be defined for what will happen if the signal is not given. Any input or zone can be used.

For example, at a bank, if the manager arrives early, he uses his card to gain access to the branch office and PIN to disarm the alarm. His code disables the office and secure area, but the ATMs, vaults, and safe deposit boxes remain armed. A Central Monitoring Station (CMS), is alerted to the early entry.

Origins and growth

SPC started as an intruder detection solution in the mid-noughties at Europlex, where it originated under the name SigNET. It has gone on to gather a vast collection of industry awards under its belt, and it has paved its way to attain flagship status in Vanderbilt’s product arsenal.

And recent customer feedback points the way that the intrusion detection solution is growing from strength to strength in meeting customer demand. For instance, 95.7% of SPC users rated the system between good and excellent. 93.2% rate the update process between good and excellent. And 88.5% rated the support information between good and excellent. Following several other field surveys, other benefits and insights that the system provided to its installer based were unearthed.

Olaf van Wissen, CEO of SafetyCom B.V., summed up his experience with the intrusion system: “In one or more words, SPC is flexible and trustworthy. My favorite features are the web portal and the integrated, enhanced control. I use SPC because its flexible structure requires less installation time.”

Connect and the cloud

And then, there is SPC Connect, the cloud-based solution designed for monitoring, managing, and maintaining SPC panels remotely. Weighing in on this aspect of SPC’s arsenal, Rikard Svensson of Elinstallationer I Karlshamn AB Sweden, stated: “SPC Connect is the best online application for installers and customers that I have used. The reason being is Connect’s automatic backup from panels, the app is swift, and the ability to connect with the Eventys NVR. Overall, its main benefit is the fast and easy setup and programming involved. It is effortless to use.”

Any further fuel to the strong words on SPC Connect’s benefits, Dave Arys, General Manager at Waasland Security summarized: “We have almost 20 years’ experience with installing intrusion panels, so we are aware of the products that are on the market.

“As we are a small company, it is essential for us to be able to deliver support from a distance. With SPC Connect, the ability to be able to access our panels, to change users, to check configurations, to upgrade firmware, and to be able to restore to previous configurations was just what we were looking for. Thanks to Vanderbilt, we now have a product that not only meets the end user’s requirements but also the requirements of the installer.”

The rise by numbers

Let’s take a quick look at some of the numbers. Since mid-2016, the solution has racked up over 1,000 installer customers. Connect receives over 32,000 login requests on an ordinary day. An average of 24,000 push notifications and 12,000 emails are sent from the solution per day, with roughly 85,000 commands being sent from Connect to SPC panels each day through Vanderbilt’s bespoke communications protocol, FlexC. The app has a 5-star rating on iTunes and is a top performer in Northern Europe in particular.

SPC Connect allows installers to do more with their business and do more remotely. In the past, an installer would have to get in their van and make a site visit to investigate any complaints or issues from their customer. Bar changing the battery of an SPC panel, everything else can be operated remotely, from anywhere, at any time, regardless of distance.

This ability is changing the way people work and tapping into the societal changes that we are seeing emerge as technology continues to play a more increasingly integrated role in how we live our day-to-day lives. This ability to get more done, without burning up miles, time, and money on the road, through a secure mechanism such as SPC Connect, is having a significant impact on increasing the level of service for all parties.

Case-in-point

Another benefit of SPC’s cloud arm is Connect’s ability to monitor activity and alarms from any location and at any time. This is particularly paramount for workplaces that are difficult or take a significant amount of time to access. In the event of an incident, security personnel can be alerted immediately via their smartphone, facilitating a quick and efficient response. Security solutions that specialize in remote monitoring make it easy for security personnel in rural areas to save time and money while ensuring the safety of people within the facility.

For instance, one sector where SPC Connect is at play is in the municipality of Odense in Denmark. Here, Odense had many buildings under their authority that needed a security system that would provide remote and instant access to deal with potential alarms from any location, at any time. In particular, SPC Connect proves to very efficient for the surveillance of all panels.

System users can connect directly to anyone of the panels, create a new user on panels locally, change calendars, and use the installer profile for remote configurations. They can also view events on all panels, therefore delivering insights into, for example, why there was a power failure in Building A or Building B. This, of course, is very beneficial for the time management of tasks.

Recurring-monthly-revenue (RMR) opportunities

SPC Connect allows the opportunity for installers and integrators to create a steady flow of revenue each month, which is considered “passive income.” In a business that has traditionally been built on a “per project” basis, recurring monthly revenue is a positive step toward being able to budget accordingly. Additionally, having continuous customers and building that relationship over time benefits the integrator by providing an ongoing opportunity to upsell more products and services.

Small-to-medium-sized business (SMBs) stand to gain the most from the use of the SPC and its cloud-based services as these organizations typically do not possess the resources necessary to house a comprehensive security solution (such as a robust IT department that can oversee an on-premise solution).